Mommy Dearest
by SouthernChickie
Summary: Set after "The Dangers of Holy Ground". Rylan confronts her mom. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: insert disclaimers here.  
  
AN: Will you people never leave me alone? J/K This story is a special request from Richiefic. So here we get to see more of Julie Fisher. Tell me what you think!  
  
P.S. This is set after "The Dangers of Holy Ground", before "MTV News Break"  
  
MOMMY DEAREST  
  
Richie stood looking down at the simple CD as if it was the most important thing in the world. And at that moment, it was. It was HIS CD. His voice, his songs, his CD.  
  
"Well, hand it over kid, I'm going to wait all day!" Joe exclaimed in mock annoyance.  
  
Richie looked up startled at everyone standing around him in the bar. "Oh, right." He handed it over.  
  
"Let's hear it," Rylan prompted impatiently.  
  
"I'm going as fast as I can," Joe said patiently. What had possessed Duncan and Tessa to all but adopt two teenagers was beyond him. He couldn't figure it out. He liked the teens and all, but only in small doses. "What number, Rich?"  
  
Richie thought for a minute. "Eight," he answered. Joe pressed A1-8. The jukebox slowly worked it's magic and soon the opening chords of Richie's song were playing in the bar surround sound. Richie grinned widely as his voice began to sing along.  
  
'If I ever leave this world alive  
  
I'll thank ya for the things you did in my life. . .'  
  
Duncan and Tessa grinned at him. The song had special meaning to them. It was the first song he ever played for them, the first song he ever wrote for them. Although, Duncan wondered exactly what Richie meant by 'leave this world alive'; it sounded like he was talking about becoming immortal. Rylan grinned for another reason.  
  
"It's official," she whispered giving him a hug. "You're in a jukebox. You're a recording artist, soon a mega-star."  
  
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Duncan warned. "You have to see if America likes it."  
  
"You have to see if a record label likes it," Adam added casting a glance at Duncan. "I stand by what I said, MacLeod," he said so only Duncan could hear. "Letting the boy do this is a bad idea."  
  
"It's what he wants," Duncan whispered back. "If this is what he wants, I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen."  
  
"Just promise you won't forget us when you're on MTV," Tessa told Richie.  
  
"Tess, Tess, Tess," Richie protested with a grin. "I would never forget the little people. Like what's-her-name here," he put an arm around Rylan. "If she wants a job some day, I could always use a maid on the road to clean up the tour bus."  
  
"Gee, thanks. Figures I'd be the first you'd forget. Like my name's so hard to remember; it's your last name with an L," Rylan mumbled pinching Richie in the side. He twisted away from her grip and tried to pinch her back, but she hid behind Tessa.  
  
"Cheater," he jabbed.  
  
"This calls for a toast," Duncan announced going behind the bar and pouring four glasses of Champaign and two cokes. Richie and Rylan each glared at him as he handed them the sodas. "You're too young," he said softly, then to everyone, "To Richie and his new career."  
  
"You'll jinx it!" Richie protested.  
  
"Fine, to Richie and his hope for a new career," Duncan amended. Richie nodded and everyone toasted him.  
  
"Long may you reign, Prince of Pop," Rylan added.  
  
"Prince?" Richie questioned.  
  
"You think I'm putting you above Michael Jackson?"  
  
"You're confidence in me underwhelms."  
  
"As it should. I'm just keeping you grounded, cause I'm not going to be your maid," Rylan laughed as Richie began tickling her.  
  
"Do they ever stop?" Joe asked Tessa.  
  
She smiled. "Not once in five months."  
  
"That takes talent," he mumbled into his glass. "Do they ever get into fights?"  
  
"Nothing that ever lasts more than five minutes. Why the sudden interest?"  
  
Joe shrugged. "I just spend so much time around adults, I realized I know nothing about teenagers."  
  
"Richie won't be one for much longer," Tessa reminded him. "He just turned nineteen. You only have him for another year."  
  
"I still have Rylan to study for another three years, though."  
  
"Don't let her hear that she's your subject. She'll make things complicated just because she can," she warned him. "She can be very difficult when she wants to be."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Later that night Rylan and Richie stood side by side in the new kitchen of the house they had just moved into washing dishes.  
  
"You haven't stopped grinning all day," Rylan teased Richie flicking a few bubbles his way.  
  
"I can't help it!" he insisted. "I'm excited. I sent out all my demos today, now all I have to do is wait for a response."  
  
"It'll come, trust me. The public loves you. You see them at all the B-O- Bs you're a hit."  
  
"Speaking of, Friday, I get one song, what do you think?"  
  
"Huh," Rylan thought. "Where is this one?"  
  
"It's that beach party. The one 98.5 is doing? What do you think?"  
  
"98.5, the beat," Rylan imitated the radio stations announcer. "What about 'Best Days'? That's a fun one."  
  
"You think so? I've never done that one in public before. And it's a little. . . unique."  
  
"Exactly. People will remember you. You'll be the Reggae white boy."  
  
"Yeah that's how I want to go down in the history books," Richie laughed drying the pot she handed him.  
  
"Okay, fine new suggestion." She thought for a minute. "What about 'I Wanna Stay Home'? Nice, normal, upbeat, and original. Unless you want to do a cover?"  
  
"No," Richie shook his head resolutely. "My cover days are over. From here on out, it's my stuff and my stuff only. I don't want a record deal based on how well I can do old Monkees songs."  
  
"Fine, then you have my suggestions. Take them or leave them."  
  
"'I Wanna Stay Home'," Richie decided. "I'll do that one. Even if it is a little new."  
  
"That's right, you just wrote that one. You probably don't have any sheet music for the house band, yet," she realized.  
  
"I could, though. Two hours with that new program Joe got me, and I'll have it."  
  
"Then do it. I really like that one."  
  
"Okay, I think I will."  
  
"Think you will what?" Duncan asked coming into the kitchen with a paintbrush in hand.  
  
"Just picking my song for the beach party Friday. You guys are coming, right?" Richie asked. "I'm doing a new song and everything."  
  
"Of course we're coming, Rich. Have we ever missed a single one of your gigs?"  
  
"No. I was just checking." Richie blushed and went back to drying dishes. Perhaps his favorite part of performing was Duncan and Tessa telling him how proud they were the second he got off the stage. It gave him extra incentive to do well in each performance.  
  
"Have you guys seen the paint thinner?" Duncan asked remembering why he had come in from painting furniture in the garage.  
  
"Yeah, Duncan, it's in the freezer," Rylan told him  
  
"What the hell is it doing in there?" Duncan grumbled walking over and opening the freezer. He stopped mid-search, turned around and glared and the girl who was staring back at him in wide-eyed innocence. He tried his best to keep his smile off his face as Rylan and Richie exploded into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. "Just remember, come summer, I own you," Duncan warned pointing at her.  
  
"Sure thing, man," she answered between gasps for air. "But you are too easy sometimes."  
  
Duncan smiled as he walked out of the room. Three months ago Tessa and Richie had left him and Rylan alone for the weekend. Those days had changed everything about Duncan and Rylan's relationship. It was different now. He felt more comfortable being a father to her, and she felt more comfortable letting him. But that didn't stop her from torturing him every chance she got. He would never punish her, and she knew it. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Petite lapine?" Tessa asked opening the door to Rylan's room. "You have it all put together. It looks great," she commented looking around the spacious room.  
  
Rylan looked up from where she was hanging pictures on the wall. "Almost all put together," she corrected. "I'll have it done by tomorrow."  
  
"You'll have to finish it tomorrow," Tessa told her. "You have school in the morning and it's nearly eleven thirty. You need to go to bed."  
  
Rylan looked at her clock. "Oh, dang it is. Sorry." She abandoned her project and walked to her bed.  
  
"It's quite alright. But you need to go to bed now."  
  
"I'm as good as asleep," Rylan assured her crawling under the covers.  
  
"So, do you like you're bed?" Tessa asked going over to tuck her in. Tessa had decided that both Richie and Rylan needed something better than store bought furniture and had designed and built both of their bedroom suites.  
  
"I love it, Tessa. I saw the designs, but this is so much cooler than what I pictured."  
  
"Good. I aim to please."  
  
Rylan grinned. "You did."  
  
"Although, I still think this room is entirely too purple. And orange would not be my first pick for the accent color."  
  
"That's why its my room and not yours," Rylan reminded her.  
  
"Oh, that's right. I forgot." Tessa leaned down and kissed Rylan's forehead. "Good night, Petite lapine."  
  
"Night, Tessa."  
  
Rylan rolled onto her side and stared out the window once Tessa left. So maybe her room was very purple, but this was her first room that she didn't have to share, so she was going to make it her own. And the furniture Tessa designed just made it that much cooler. Everything had been designed just for her. Her chest of drawers was tall and shaped a bit like a genie bottle. She had painted it purple to match her walls then added an Indian Hindi design in orange. Her shelves were orange and curved in waves along one wall. And her computer desk (for the computer Duncan had gotten her to keep her off the one at the store) was painted to match her chest of drawers. But perhaps her favorite piece was her new bed. It was king sized and built on a platform so she actually had to climb to get into it. The base looked like the platform had been balanced on four large purple balls. Rylan had almost half expected it to roll the first time she crawled onto it.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Tessa made her way down the stairs to the basement and found Richie standing on a ladder installing some track lighting that she assumed was going to light the "stage" he had set up.  
  
"Well, looks like everybody is obsessed with getting everything set up," she commented.  
  
Richie looked down at her. "Yeah, well, no sense in leaving everything half done."  
  
"I just came to remind you that you have the store on your own tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Richie said climbing down the ladder. "You got that thing at the museum and Mac's doing something or another here."  
  
"Just checking."  
  
"You always do."  
  
"Well, since you obviously don't need me. Good night," she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "See you in the morning."  
  
"Night, Tess."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Yes, sir," Richie said into the phone in his best businessman voice. "We shipped it out yesterday. It should be there by the end of the week at the latest. Yes, I have it right in front of me. Okay, thank you." He hung up and went back to arranging the goblets in the lighted glass case. After a couple of minutes he heard the door open. He looked up. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Yes, I'm looking for someone," the woman said looking around the store. Richie waited for her to clarify whom, although he assumed it was Duncan. Everyone was always looking for Duncan. And she looked familiar; maybe she was one of Tessa's friends that he'd seen a picture of.  
  
"You know," he said after a minute. "If you give me a name, I might be able to help you."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman blushed. "I'm looking for Rylan Fisher. This is the address I have for her."  
  
"You're looking for Ry? Are you, like, a social worker or something?"  
  
"No. Is she here?"  
  
"No, she's in school right now. Is there something I could help you with?" Richie offered at a loss for what to do.  
  
"When will she be back?"  
  
"Not for a couple days probably. We just moved. We don't live here anymore."  
  
"Oh. Do you know how I can reach her?"  
  
"Yes," Richie answered. "But, look, no offence lady, but I don't even know who you are so, I'm not telling you anything. I'm sure whatever agency you  
work for will have our new address soon. You can come by then."  
  
"I don't work for an agency. My name's Julie Kregson, I'm her mother."  
  
Richie froze. No wonder the lady looked familiar, she looked like Rylan. "Oh," he finally said. "Uh, okay. She might be here Saturday, I don't know though."  
  
"Can't you give me your phone number?" Julie asked.  
  
"No offence, Mrs. Kregson, but I don't really think it's my place to do that," Richie stammered. 'Shouldn't her name be Fisher?' he thought. "But like I said. She might be here Saturday. Unless you want to give me your number. I can give it to her tonight."  
  
Julie shook her head. "She wouldn't call me. I was hoping to catch her at home. I'll come by Saturday."  
  
"Okay, but I'm really not sure if she'll be here. With exams next week and everything, she might not be working."  
  
"I'll take my chances," Julie said turning to leave.  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get our address?" Richie asked.  
  
"She was in the emergency room a couple months ago with a sprained ankle. I looked it up in her file."  
  
"Oh." Richie thought this over. Rylan hadn't said anything about seeing her mom that weekend. "I was just curious."  
  
"That's quite alright.uh, what's your name?"  
  
"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Richie Ryan," he offered his hand.  
  
"Well, Richie I'm glad Rylan has someone like you looking out for her. Even if I wish you would offer up some information."  
  
"Sorry, but like I said; it's not my place."  
  
"I understand. I'll be back by on Saturday."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Richie was making dinner when Rylan came home from "studying" at a friend's house.  
  
"Hey," she greeted coming into the kitchen. "What'cha making?"  
  
"Pork steaks."  
  
"Smells better than it sounds," she said with a grin getting a soda out of the refrigerator.  
  
"You'll like 'em. Hey, why didn't you tell me about your mom?"  
  
Rylan quirked a brow. "I've told you about my mom."  
  
"You didn't tell me her last name was different, or that you saw her when you went to the hospital when you hurt you ankle."  
  
"How do you know about that?"  
  
"She came by the store looking for you today. We talked a little."  
  
"You talked to my mom? What did she want?"  
  
"She didn't say." Richie flipped the steaks. "I guess she just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Did you tell her that I don't want to talk to her?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I didn't know what you wanted. For all I know things have changed between you and you guys are okay now."  
  
"So what did you do?" Rylan put her soda down and stared intently at him.  
  
"I didn't give her our address or number or anything. I told her you might be at the store Saturday but I wasn't sure. I figured that way it was up to you. Since you don't have to be there you don't have to see her, but if you want to you can study in the loft until she gets there."  
  
"I don't want to see her," Rylan told him. "Next time she comes by, you tell her that. You know how I feel about her. If anything I hate her more now. Her name wasn't always different from mine, she got married a couple years back."  
  
"Oh. Ry, I didn't know. I'll tell her Saturday. But I think you should be the one to tell her." 


	3. Chapter 3

"There's a lot of people here," Duncan commented looking at the sea of teenagers that had gathered on the beach. "How are we supposed to find Rylan?"  
  
"That's a good question," Tessa agreed scanning the crowd. "What was she wearing when she left?"  
  
Duncan shrugged. "Clothes. I guess if worst comes to worst we can wait until after Richie performs and find her backstage."  
  
"True. Maybe we should just leave her to her friends. She's not going to see them again until after exams."  
  
"Oh, it's starting." Duncan led Tessa by the hand toward the large stage that had been set up on the beach as one of the radio DJs started to talk to the crowd.  
  
"Let me just explain how all this works. This is not your typical Battle of the Bands for money. This is for crucial air time and the shot at the big times," the DJ explained. "We have three solo acts and five garage bands all here for you guys tonight. And you are the judges. So pick your act and show them all your love because it's the only way your group is going to get anywhere. Without further ado, let's bring out the first group!" The audience cheered and clapped as a grunge band took the stage.  
  
Richie was seventh to perform. At the mention of his name a large scream went up from the front of the crowd.  
  
"I think we just found Rylan and her friends," Duncan whispered to Tessa. It was a well know fact that nearly all of Rylan's friends had huge crushes on Richie, and he always seemed to play to them when on stage. And it's a well know scientific fact that teenage hormones are contagious. There had never been an audience that Richie couldn't sway.  
  
Richie grinned as he trotted to center stage with his guitar slug over his shoulder. He scanned the audience, spotted Rylan and her friends and gave them a wink, then continued looking for Duncan and Tessa as he began to sing.  
  
"I believe in self-assertion  
  
Destiny on a slight diversion"  
  
He spotted them and made a face.  
  
"Now it seems I've got my head on straight.  
  
I'm a freak an apparition  
  
Seems I've made the right decision  
  
Try to turn back now it might be too late."  
  
Duncan frowned, 'freak'? 'Apparition'? 'Turn back'? Was it just his imagination or did all of Richie's songs seem to hint about being immortal?  
  
"And it's off to the middle and back again,  
  
Same old day same situation,  
  
My happiness is back as if to say. . .  
  
I wanna stay home today! (don't wanna go out)  
  
If anyone comes my way (gonna get thrown out)  
  
I wanna stay home today!  
  
Don't want no company, no way.  
  
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!  
  
Simple life's my cup of tea,  
  
I don't need nobody but me.  
  
What I wouldn't give just to be left alone.  
  
I wanna be a millionaire someday,  
  
But know what it feels like to give it away. . . "  
  
That part didn't sound very immortal. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Richie didn't know he was immortal. He just hoped he was. Richie ran through the chorus again then as the band hit the bridge he started playing with the audience. He put his guitar down and ran back and fourth across the stage with energy Duncan wished he would use a work. By the last chorus the entire audience was jumping and clapping in time to the music and singing along.  
  
The music slowed down and faded. An ear splitting scream went up from the crowd. Richie ginned, waved and trotted back off stage. Duncan and Tessa went to meet him.  
  
"That was wonderful!" Tessa exclaimed pulling him into a hug the second his feet hit the sand.  
  
"Good job, Rich," Duncan added with a slap on the back. "How'd you come up with that one?"  
  
Richie shrugged. "It's just about me. You know, thinking I got in over my head with you guys and all, then it all working out. You seen Ry?" he asked suddenly changing the subject. Richie had never really been one for explaining how he came up with song ideas.  
  
"We heard her. Didn't you see her?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Yeah, but by the end of the song she was gone. Thought maybe you guys had nabbed her . . . I'm sure she's fine," he quickly added after catching glimpse of Tessa's face. After Rylan had been kidnapped from school Tessa had become rather paranoid about it happening again. "She's probably just flirting with some guy. Either that or she found Chris and is kicking the crap out of him again." After Rylan had heard that her (now ex) boyfriend Chris had been cheating on her. . . well, let's just say she didn't take the news well and her actions gave Duncan second thoughts about teaching her karate.  
  
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. MacLeod," one of Rylan's friends greeted them. "You were great, Richie," she added with a blush.  
  
"Thanks, kid," Richie replied flashing her a grin that made her giggle and blush harder.  
  
"Jana, do you know where Rylan is?" Tessa asked.  
  
"Yeah, she asked me to tell you that she's fine and she'll be home later."  
  
"Do you know where she went?"  
  
Jana shook her head. "Nope, she just left with these two guys."  
  
Tessa's face paled and Duncan's guard went up. "Do you know who they were?" he asked.  
  
"Never seen them before, they looked pretty old though. Older than Richie."  
  
"Do you know where they went?"  
  
Jana shook her head again. "No, all I know is that she's fine and she'll be home later and she wanted me to tell you."  
  
"Thanks, Jana," Richie said.  
  
"Can you have Rylan call me when she gets home?"  
  
"Sure thing," Richie answered distractedly as Jana turned to rejoin her friends.  
  
"Duncan, I don't like this," Tessa announced.  
  
"I'm sure she's fine," Richie assured her. "I mean, if she had been kidnapped she wouldn't have sent Jana over here."  
  
"That's true," Duncan agreed. "But usually she would just leave without a word and come up with an excuse when she got home."  
  
"Maybe she just got tired of being yelled at for not telling you where she was going," Richie suggested.  
  
"Just the same, Rich, Tessa and I are going to go home and check. Do you mind?"  
  
"Go ahead, but I'm sure it's nothing."  
  
Two hours later Richie returned home to a pacing competition that Duncan and Tessa seemed to have gotten rather deep into. He didn't even have to ask; Rylan wasn't home yet. Richie sat on the couch and watched them pace and held the phone in his hands. He hadn't been worried, but seeing Duncan and Tessa so worried was starting to sway him. Maybe something was wrong. After Richie had been home twenty minutes the front door opened. Tessa, Duncan and Richie all rushed to the foyer.  
  
Rylan froze in the doorway. "Didn't Jana find you guys?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Next time offer up some more info," Richie told her.  
  
"With everything that happens around here a vague 'I'm fine, be back later' doesn't cut it," Tessa added.  
  
"You had us thinking it was some immor-"  
  
"I have a good reason," Rylan interrupted Duncan quickly. She stepped further into the house and gestured to two young men who stepped in behind her. "These are my brothers, Brendan and Whitney. They surprised me at the beach and took me out for ice cream. Guess I could have told Jana that."  
  
"Oh," Tessa said, not quite sure if she was still mad. "Brendan and Whitney, nice to meet you."  
  
"Oh, uh, Brendan, Whitney this is Duncan and Tessa, you already know Richie," Rylan introduced awkwardly. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, guys!" Richie greeted cheerily breaking the silence. "How's college?"  
  
"About to graduate," Whitney, the shorter twin, answered. "That was quite a performance, earlier. How'd you place?"  
  
"Third," Richie answered making a face.  
  
"Too bad, Rich," Brendan, the taller twin, consoled. "I thought you were awesome."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
The silence returned. "Would you like something to drink, a soda?" Tessa asked suddenly.  
  
"That would be great, thank you," Brendan smiled Rylan's crocked grin.  
  
"Rylan, why don't you help me in the kitchen," Tessa said over her shoulder. "Richie, show the boys to the living room."  
  
Rylan quietly helped Tessa fill six glasses. "Sorry," she said after a minute.  
  
"Rylan, you know better," Tessa scolded sternly. "Things are different around here, we're a little more cautious. I don't mind that you went out with your brothers, I mind that you didn't tell me."  
  
"I know," she assured her. "I just, I was so excited, I almost didn't tell Jana to talk to you guys. At least I remembered that." Rylan looked at Tessa with a hopeful, shy, smile.  
  
Tessa's face softened. "Yes, at least you remembered that. But remember to put in some details next time. What sodas do your brothers like?"  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Rylan flushed and tried to hide behind Richie. "Not the Hershey bar story you guys," she whined.  
  
"I want to hear it," Tessa prompted.  
  
Whitney smile mischievously the same smile Rylan got when she was about to do something she knew she wasn't supposed to. Duncan smiled, it was like if you knew one's habits you knew all three. Rylan looked nothing like her brothers, but they had the same facial expressions.  
  
"When Rylan was a baby she had this bad habit of taking things and hiding them in her diapers," Whitney started.  
  
"A klepto from the start, huh?" Duncan chuckled. Rylan sank lower into the couch.  
  
"She also loved chocolate," Brendan added. "One day we spent hours, Mom, Dad, Kev, Whit and me, all trying to figure out why the house smelled like cookies. Then Rylan started crying 'cause she needed her diaper changed." He flashed a look at Rylan who had turned a bright shade of red that matched Richie's shirt. "We had gone to the store earlier and that little girl had grabbed a Hershey bar and stuffed it her diaper while we were in the check out. By the time we found it, it had melted and was all over her backside and down her legs. She was covered."  
  
"How old was she?" Tessa laughed.  
  
"One and a half?" Whitney estimated.  
  
"Ry, that's disgusting," Richie informed her.  
  
"I was a baby," she reminded everyone. "I didn't know what I was doin'."  
  
"What else did she do?"  
  
"The usual stuff any girl with four older brothers did: stuff peas up her nose, try and figure out how to pee standing up . nothing to strange," Whitney nudged Rylan with his elbow.  
  
"Shut up," she pleaded.  
  
"I take it potty training was an experience," Duncan said with a smile.  
  
The twins laughed and Rylan groaned. "You have no idea, Mr. MacLeod," Brendan drawled. "She couldn't figure out why she had to sit, while we could stand. She would insist on watching so she could figure it out."  
  
"Oh, God!" Rylan had nearly slumped her way off the couch. Everyone laughed. "I was two! I didn't know there was a difference between boys and girls, I was still figuring it all out!"  
  
"Which she did, after crying and screaming and throwing a huge hissy fit," Whitney allowed.  
  
"Sto-o-o-opp!"  
  
"What about the peas?" Tessa asked thoroughly enjoyed torturing Rylan.  
  
"I can field that one," Richie interrupted.  
  
"I'll kill you," Rylan warned.  
  
"And if you do, you're grounded," Duncan told her. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million time. You're not allowed to kill Richie until you're eighteen."  
  
At that Brendan and Whitney laughed. They had already decided that Rylan had found the perfect home for her to be herself.  
  
"What about the peas?" Tessa repeated.  
  
Richie grinned. "She was five, I was seven, Brendan and Whitney were ten. Their parents took us all to the park for a picnic."  
  
"Where mom made the mistake of trying to give us peas," Brendan interrupted.  
  
"Real mom or adoptive mom?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Adoptive."  
  
"Well," Richie continued. "Little boys know there's one way that any mom won't make you eat your peas. If they've been up you nose and on the ground. So naturally, the three of us," he gestured to himself and the twins. "Starting stuffin' and shootin'. Ry decided she wanted to give it a try. But, she didn't know that you could only stuff one pea at a time and you couldn't stuff it that far or it would get stuck. It took twenty minutes to get them out."  
  
"And she had a green nose for a week," Whitney added.  
  
"Petite lapine!" Tessa exclaimed. "Is that why you won't eat peas?" Rylan grimaced and slapped her hand on her forehead. "Why didn't you just tell me?" Tessa teased. "I can always make carrots." A snicker arouse from the couch the twins were sitting on. "Is there a story that should be shared?" Tessa asked.  
  
"No!" Rylan insisted. "No more embarrassing stories guys, please?"  
  
"Rylan Elizabeth Fisher," Brendan scolded. "We are your big brothers we changed your diapers and powdered your tush, we have eared the right to tell stories."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Saturday afternoon Tessa was still laughing at the stories the twins had told the night before. She hummed merrily to herself as she looked over orders on the computer. "Richie turn the music down!" she yelled into the loft. They were remodeling the upstairs to expand the store and Richie had been recruited to scrub the place down.  
  
"Sorry!" he yelled back and the music softened to a dull roar.  
  
Tessa heard the door open and emerged from the office. "May I help you?" she asked pleasantly.  
  
"Yes," the woman answered. "I was told Rylan Fisher might be working today."  
  
"No, I'm sorry, she's studying for her exams. I'm her mother, can I help you?"  
  
The woman made a strange face. "I'm Julie Kregson. I am Rylan's mother."  
  
"Oh," Tessa breathed. "I'm sorry, if I had known. . . it's just easier to explain that way. What did you need Rylan for?"  
  
"I just want to talk to her. I met with a boy here earlier this week, he said she might be in today."  
  
"Richie?" Tessa asked. Julie nodded. "He must not have realized." Tessa made a mental note to yell at Richie later. "Um, if you'd like I can give you our home phone number and you can call her."  
  
"I was hoping to talk to her in person. I'm afraid that she'll hang up on me if I call."  
  
Tessa thought for a minute. "She has exams this week, so I'm afraid she needs to study."  
  
"Of course," Julie quickly agreed.  
  
"But, they're over on Thursday. Why don't you come to dinner Friday night? I'm sure Richie will make something wonderful."  
  
Upstairs, Richie turned down the radio, he could have sworn he heard his name. He wondered to the top of the stairs. "Hey, Tessa, did you call me?" he asked. He swallowed when he spotted Julie. "Mrs. Kregson, you came back." He glanced briefly at Tessa and knew that Julie had been there for a while.  
  
"Richie, you will make dinner Friday night, no?"  
  
"Uh, yeah. Why?" Richie already knew and dreaded the answer.  
  
"We have company." She gestured to Julie.  
  
"Oh," Richie forced a smile. "Great. Do you like Italian?"  
  
"Yes, that would be wonderful. If its not too much trouble," Julie said returning the forced smile. She could tell Richie had problems with her coming.  
  
"No, not at all," Richie assured her. 'I'm dead,' he thought. 'Ry is going to kill me for sure.'  
  
"Thank you. Well, I don't want to take up anymore of your time. You seem busy." Julie turned to leave.  
  
"Let me give you our address," Tessa interrupted her running into the office and scribbling it on a piece of paper. "Here you are. It's in Spring Meadows. Do know how to get there?"  
  
Julie looked at the paper. "Yes," she answered. "It's a nice neighborhood. I'll see you Friday night."  
  
"Seven thirty," Tessa told her with a grin. And with that Julie turned and left.  
  
"I can't believe you did that!" Richie exclaimed as soon as the door shut. "Rylan's going to flip!"  
  
"Why? She should talk to her mother."  
  
"She doesn't want to Tess," Richie told her. "She hates her!"  
  
"Nonsense, no child can hate their mother."  
  
"Ry does. I was supposed to tell Mrs. Kregson that Rylan doesn't want to talk to her. And instead you invite her to dinner!"  
  
"I will explain it to Rylan, she will understand," Tessa said assuredly. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rylan dropped her fork and let it clatter nosily on her plate. "You did what!?"  
  
"Invited your mother to dinner Friday," Tessa repeated calmly.  
  
"Uh-huh, no way, not gonna happen." Rylan shook her head fiercely. "Not in a million years."  
  
"It's happening in six days," Duncan told her. "It's only one night." Duncan secretly didn't agree with what Tessa had done, but wasn't going to bring that up in front of Rylan.  
  
"But you said I didn't have to talk with her!" Rylan protested. "You promised."  
  
"I said I'd support your decision," Duncan corrected. "Which I do. But I also support Tessa's side. You really should talk with her. Even if it's just to say, 'I hate you and never want to see you again'."  
  
"That's not fair!" Rylan continued. "You didn't even ask! She's MY mother, what do you care if I talk to her or not?"  
  
"Ry, she obviously wants to tell you something, just give her a chance," Richie said softly from across the table.  
  
Rylan glared fiercely at him. "Don't even start with me," she growled. "You were supposed to tell her to go away."  
  
"So you tell her," Richie shot back.  
  
"Why do I have to be the one to tell her? It means the same thing no matter who says it!"  
  
"Rylan, calm down," Tessa told her calmly.  
  
"No!" Rylan screamed. "You had no right! I'm not doing this!"  
  
"What am I supposed to do, call and cancel?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"I'm not doing that, Rylan."  
  
"Come Friday night either she's not here, or I'm not. It's up to you," Rylan told them.  
  
"You will both be here," Duncan said sternly. "And you will behave, and be polite. I don't care if a moron can tell you're faking, you'll do it."  
  
"You can't make me," Rylan challenged folding her arms across her chest.  
  
"Yes, I can," Duncan told her. If there was one thing he hated about Rylan it was her Irish-like temper.  
  
"Like hell."  
  
"I can make you stay home Friday night, I can make you be civil to your mother, and I can make you go to your room, now."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Go, Rylan. You can finish dinner when you've cooled down."  
  
"I'm not hungry anyway," Rylan mumbled getting pushing away from the table.  
  
"Then clear you dishes," Duncan added. Rylan snatched her plate off the table and deposited it in the sink before running up the stairs and slamming her door. Duncan turned to Tessa. "You shouldn't have done that."  
  
"You're the one who sent her to her room," Tessa objected. Duncan looked at her. "How was I supposed to know she would be so upset?"  
  
"I could'a told you," Richie mumbled.  
  
"You also could have told me Julie was looking for Rylan in the first place," Tessa retorted. Richie silently yielded and poked at his chicken. "Duncan, she needs to speak with her mother."  
  
"I agree. But she needs to do it on her own terms, not ours."  
  
"It's too late, I can't un-invite her mother," Tessa insisted. "And I don't want to."  
  
"Then were going to be stuck with a very unhappy teenager for the next month."  
  
"Month?"  
  
"She's going to hate us for at least that long."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Rylan?" Duncan asked softly opening her door. She was lying on her bed watching TV. "Will you turn that off?"  
  
She looked at him over her shoulder. "Am I grounded?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then no." She turned back to the re-run.  
  
"I can always change my answer if you want," Duncan offered trying to keep his temper in check. Tessa often lost her cool when dealing with the girl and they almost always ended up screaming things that they regretted later. He hoped that maybe he could do better.  
  
"Fine," she groaned switching off the TV. "What do you want?" she demanded.  
  
"You to stop acting like such a brat for one," Duncan started. "You're doing this whether you want to or not, so you can stop pouting. All we're asking you to do is be nice to Julie for a couple hours, let her talk to you, and don't yell at her. After that we won't do this again unless its your idea," he assured her.  
  
"I don't want to," she insisted.  
  
"I know you don't. We all do. You made that pretty clear down stairs. But that doesn't change the fact that it's already a done deal. She's coming Friday at seven thirty. At that time you will be here, with a fake grin on your face, ready to pretend that you don't want to go on a killing spree. Once she leaves you can scream, cry, throw things, whatever you want. But while she's here you will behave. You got that?"  
  
"Fine," she answered shortly. "Like I have a choice. Are we done?"  
  
"I don't know," Duncan responded smugly. "I'm starting to think I don't like this attitude you've developed, maybe we should talk about that."  
  
"Duncan!" she groaned. "What am I supposed to do? I'm mad, okay? I haven't been this pissed in a long time. And quite frankly it's taking every fiber of my being not to try and slug the next person that gets on my nerves. And it's a battle I'm losing very quickly, so will you just go away before I get myself into some real trouble?"  
  
Duncan looked at her. She was so mad she was almost shaking. "Do you want to go running?" he asked suddenly. "Get all the energy and tension out?"  
  
Rylan looked back and thought over the question. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. I gotta get outa here."  
  
"So change. I'll take you up to the high school and we can run the track," Duncan offered.  
  
"Okay," Rylan nodded and took a few deep breaths. "Okay, yeah, lets do it."  
  
Duncan and Rylan ran every night for the next week. The closer Friday came the more laps Rylan ran. Friday afternoon she was starting on her seventh mile when Duncan finally stopped her.  
  
"Rylan, you're moms going to be here in a couple hours. You need to take a shower and get ready," he told her.  
  
"Two more laps," she panted.  
  
"No more," Duncan shook his head. "Stretch and then we have to go home." 


	6. Chapter 6

"Ouch!" Rylan yelped.  
  
"Sit still," Tessa told her loftily.  
  
"I was, until you pulled my hair," Rylan complained. She was sitting on the floor in the living room in front of Tessa who had insisted on braiding her hair. Rylan and Tessa, who seemed to be at odds all week, had made up. Duncan and Richie were at a loss for how and exactly when they had made up, but they had. They decided it was a women thing and left it at that.  
  
"There," Tessa finished twisting the hair band in place. "Stand up, let me look at you." Rylan stood up and straightened her skirt. Tessa had bought her a new dress to wear. It was a simple navy blue cotton knee length sleeveless dress with a hood and two thin gray stripes down each side. Her new attire combined with her twin french braids made her look a year younger. "You look adorable."  
  
"I look stupid, but thanks for lying," Rylan retorted looking in a mirror. "I don't look like me."  
  
"Of course you do. Only more feminine."  
  
"Wow, Ry," Richie came in from the kitchen and looked her up and down. "I never would have guessed it, you're a girl. Are you sure this is our Ry, Tess?"  
  
"Tell anyone about this, and I'll kill you," Rylan growled.  
  
Richie laughed. "Yup, that's Ry, I'd recognize that threat anywhere."  
  
Tessa rolled her eyes. "Go get dressed," she told Richie. "You go get your shoes," she added for Rylan. Rylan grumbled something and went to get her shoes. Richie went back to the kitchen. "Are your clothes in there?"  
  
"Well, no," Richie answered. "But the food is."  
  
"I'll watch it. Get dressed."  
  
"But you'll ruin it!" Richie complained.  
  
"I will not!" Tessa swatted at him with an oven mitt.  
  
"Don't touch anything, if something- ow!-" She hit him again. "goes wrong -hey!- just yell and I'll -would ya stop that?- I'll fix it," Richie ran out of the kitchen. "Don't touch anything!" he repeated sticking his head back in the door.  
  
"Go!" She ordered. He grinned, winked and left.  
  
"Is everything ready?" Duncan asked coming in from the dining room.  
  
"I think so," Tessa answered.  
  
"Are you nervous?" he asked wrapping his arms around her waist.  
  
"Yes. I don't know why I want to impress her so much. I feel like I'm competing against her."  
  
"For who gets to be Rylan's mother?"  
  
"I guess so." She pulled away and looked at him. "Am I being foolish?"  
  
Duncan smiled. "You're being protective. And you have a right to," he told her. "Rylan's just as much yours as she is Julie's. She may have given birth to her, but you . you take care of her, you punish her, you help her when she has a problem. I think Rylan's already decided who her mother is."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Tessa, is it really that hard to see? She lives with you, follows you around and even tries to imitate you. We had to force her to have dinner with Julie. What do you think?" he asked pulling her to him again.  
  
"I think you guys are mushy beyond all belief," Rylan said from the kitchen doorway. "What'd Richie make?" she asked looking into all the pots.  
  
"Looks like Fettuccini Alfredo and shrimp," Duncan commented stirring the sauce.  
  
"Get out of there!" Richie scolded entering the kitchen as well. "You'll screw it up." He took the spoon from Duncan and playfully pushed him aside. "Go do something useful."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Make out with Tessa, I don't care. Just get out o-" he stopped short when the door bell rang.  
  
Tessa looked at Rylan. "Go get it," she prompted gently.  
  
AN: Please don't kill me! I couldn't resist! More soon I promise! 


	7. Chapter 7

AN: This story is turning out a lot longer than I planned. Hope you don't mind. Here's a nice long(er) chap for being so nice!  
  
Slowly Rylan took a deep breath and opened the door. Julie stood on the other side with a shy smile that Rylan couldn't help but recognize as her own.  
  
"Hey," Rylan greeted softly and awkwardly.  
  
"Hi, Rylan." They stood silently.  
  
"Aren't you going to invite her in?" Tessa asked gently giving Rylan a nudge.  
  
"Come on in." Rylan stepped aside and gestured Julie through the door.  
  
"It's nice to see you again, Julie," Duncan greeted with a smile. "I'm glad you could come." He looked pointedly over Julie's shoulder at Rylan.  
  
"Oh, um, yeah, me too," the girl added quietly. Duncan was surprised to see Rylan acting so strangely, he had been expecting snide remarks and a sarcastic smile, not shy glances up from the floor and soft polite mumbles.  
  
"Well," Tessa interjected. "Richie said dinner would still be a minute. So, why don't you show Julie your room?"  
  
"Sure. It's upstairs." Rylan quietly turned and lead the way.  
  
"She's acting strange," Tessa commented as the mother and daughter disappeared upstairs.  
  
"Let's just hope it's not the calm before the storm," Duncan added.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Rylan opened her door. "This is it."  
  
"It's. . . purple," Julie commented. "But very nice," she added. "Is that a record player?"  
  
"Yeah, I bought it from this guy at a flea market. I got lotsa records, too. Tessa gave me hers and Duncan found some of his, and I've bought some," Rylan loosely gestured to the shelf of records.  
  
"You have your own computer, too?" Julie looked at Rylan's state of the art, brand new, top of the line computer and printer.  
  
"Yeah, Duncan got sick of me and Richie using up all the memory on the one at the store."  
  
"So they got you two your own computer? That's nice of them."  
  
"We both got a computer, actually. We got all sorts of stuff when we moved."  
  
Julie nodded and glanced around the room. "Are these your school papers?" she asked looking at the line of binders on one shelf.  
  
"Sort of," Rylan answered. "I've used some of them as papers. I-I write."  
  
"Poems? Short stories?"  
  
"Sometimes. That blue binder is short stories, the white ones are all novels. Each one is its own story. The black ones are character notes, time lines, research, stuff like that," Rylan explained hoping dinner would be ready soon.  
  
"Oh, you've been busy."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You read a lot, too, huh?" she skimmed Rylan's library.  
  
"I read some," Rylan shrugged not feeling the pressure to be nice to her mother now that Duncan and Tessa were safely down stairs.  
  
"Dickens, Shelly, Grisham, Twain, Tolkien," she read out. "Impressive."  
  
"What were you expecting? Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Ann M. Martian?" Rylan asked smugly. "I out grew them a long time ago."  
  
"I'm sure you did."  
  
"Rylan," Tessa said from the doorway. Rylan turned and got a look that let her know Tessa had heard her comment. "Julie, dinner is ready."  
  
"Great, just the smell has sparked my appetite," Julie said with a smile.  
  
Julie followed Tessa into the dining room and Rylan trailed behind. Tessa gestured Julie to her seat.  
  
"Rylan, why don't you get your mother a drink?" Tessa prompted.  
  
Rylan turned to her mother with a sarcastic smile. "What would you like? We have water, tea, sodas, beer, wine. Anything sound good?"  
  
"Ice water would be fine, thank you."  
  
"Tessa?" Rylan offered.  
  
"Duncan's getting the wine."  
  
"Be right back." Rylan turned and stalked into the kitchen.  
  
"Ouch," Richie commented looking at the scowl on her face. "Not going well?"  
  
"I can't do this, Rich," she insisted filling two glasses with water. "You want something?" she offered.  
  
"I'm covered." He held up a can of Dr. Pepper. "It's just for a couple more hours."  
  
"A couple more hours of torture, Richie. She doesn't know anything about me."  
  
"So tell about yourself. Give her a chance."  
  
"I gave her a chance, two. She blew it, twice."  
  
"Fine. Then just be nice," Richie picked up the bowl of salad and headed for the dining room. "Remember, you got what you need now. Whatever she has to offer, you have something better." He looked her directly in the eye. "You think she wants you back," he stated bluntly. "That's what you're worried about."  
  
"What? Don't be stupid, Rich. I don't like her, she doesn't like me, why would she want me back?"  
  
"If she doesn't like you, why is she here?" Richie asked. "Mac and Tessa aren't making her."  
  
"You two coming?" Duncan called from the dining room.  
  
"She's your mom, Ry, she loves you, you can't change that." Richie turned on his heal and left Rylan to ponder.  
  
Rylan slowly entered the dining room and took her place next to Richie, across from her mom, after giving her her drink. Everyone started eating murmuring praises to the chef and Rylan quietly picked at the pasta on her plate.  
  
"Petite lapine?" Tessa asked softly. "Are you okay?"  
  
Rylan looked up. "Huh? Oh, I, uh, just still full from lunch, I guess. I'm sure it's great, Rich."  
  
"I'll save you some," he answered quietly.  
  
"So, Rylan," Julie started. "What grade are you in now?"  
  
Rylan shot a look at Richie with a firmly set jaw and didn't answer. "Rylan's going to be a senior next year," Richie answered.  
  
"So that makes you seventeen," Julie added.  
  
"Sixteen," Rylan corrected softly. "I'll be seventeen in-"  
  
"August," Julie interrupted.  
  
"February."  
  
Julie blushed. "The nineteenth." Rylan shook her head. "Eighth?" She shook her head again. "Eleventh?"  
  
"Twenty-fourth," Rylan told her. "February 24, 1976. That's me."  
  
Julie swallowed. "Tessa said you had exams this week, how did that go?"  
  
Rylan thought for a minute. "Pretty good," she answered. "Duncan helped me with history, Tessa with chemistry, Richie's real good at math, I got English covered. I'm sure I did fine." Rylan slipped into a familiar smug tone that made Richie glance up at Duncan.  
  
"Oh, that's good," Julie commented shifting in her seat slightly. "Have you decided about college?"  
  
"Not yet. I don't know if I'm going to go."  
  
"You should," Julie said. "It will help you a lot in life."  
  
"I might go," Rylan offered still using the same smug tone that was now accompanied by a smirk. Tessa knew she wasn't going to like what was coming next. "Duncan and Tessa said all I have to do is get in, they'd take care of the rest. I can go wherever I want, Richie, too. If he decides to."  
  
"That's good," Julie said forcing a smile. "They seem to do a lot for you."  
  
"Oh, yeah, tons of stuff," Rylan answered with a glint in her eye. Tessa looked worriedly at Duncan. "They got me a job, warm clothes, let me stay with them even though there wasn't a lot of room at the loft, they made it work. Then they got this big house, and I got my own room, a computer, cool stereo, a TV, they let me stay up late, and go out even on school nights sometimes. They read my stories, help me with my homework, Tessa designed and built all my furniture, Duncan's teaching me karate. . ."  
  
"Rylan," Tessa warned.  
  
"They're real nice," Rylan kept going. "Best parents I ever had."  
  
"Rylan!" Tessa said sharply. "I need to speak with you in the kitchen. Now." She took the girl by the arm and dragged her from the table. Richie looked from Duncan to Julie.  
  
Duncan took in a deep breath. "Julie, I'm sorry," he said. "We didn't know she was going to say that."  
  
"It's okay, Duncan. I'm sorry you're in the middle of all this. To be honest I knew it was coming," Julie admitted. "It's not your fault."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Rylan Elizabeth Fisher, what the hell do you think were doing in there?" Tessa demanded as soon as the door shut behind them.  
  
"What?" Rylan answered innocently. "She asked a question, I answered it."  
  
"You could have just said yes. You didn't have to list off every petty little thing."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Don't play that game with me," Tessa warned. "Duncan may let you get away with things, but you've gone too far. She is you mother, she deserves to be treated with respect. What you just said to her was way out of line, you understand?"  
  
"What I said? What about what she did?" Rylan shot back.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
Richie stared at the closed kitchen door and listened intently to the two voices screaming back and fourth in a mixture of French and English. He wondered if Julie spoke French. Hopefully she didn't, he didn't think she would like some of the words Rylan was using.  
  
"Maybe we should go in the other room," Duncan offered standing up. Julie and Richie followed his lead into the den.  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Rylan, you are embarrassing us," Tessa said sternly. "You know better than to behave like a child." Rylan set her jaw and stared up at her. "Do you want Julie to think that we've corrupted and spoiled her daughter?"  
  
"Who cares what she thinks?" Rylan spat.  
  
"You should."  
  
"I don't."  
  
"You should change that. Now I want you to go in there, be polite, nice, and stop showing off, you understand?" Rylan glared at her for a minute. Tessa glared back. "Do you understand?" she repeated slowly.  
  
"Yeah, I understand," the girl mumbled.  
  
"Good, now march." 


	8. Chapter 8

"There they are," Richie announced as Tessa led Rylan into the den. Rylan stiffly took a seat next to Richie on the couch and stared straight ahead. Tessa sat next to Duncan on the love seat across from Julie who was in the easy chair.  
  
"I'm sorry about that," Tessa said sweetly. "We had to discuss something, but we have it worked out now. Don't we, Rylan?"  
  
"Yes we do," she answered curtly. Richie sighed the tension from the previous week was back.  
  
"I'm sorry, too," Julie said. "I should have known this was a bad idea. I just wanted to talk to Rylan."  
  
"Then we should go and let you talk to her," Tessa said standing up. Richie moved to follow, but Rylan stopped him.  
  
"Whatever she has to say, she can say in front of everyone," she insisted.  
  
"Ry," Richie whispered. "Just talk to her."  
  
"Richie, come on," Duncan said from the doorway.  
  
"I'll be in the kitchen," he promised.  
  
Rylan watched him leave. Then stood up crossed her arms and faced her mother. "You wanna talk? So talk."  
  
"Watch your attitude, young lady," Julie snapped jumping to her feet going toe to toe with her daughter.  
  
"You can't tell me to do that, sorry," Rylan returned with a smirk.  
  
"I'm still your mother."  
  
"Not my mom, there's a difference."  
  
"Excuse me?" Julie asked.  
  
"You're . not . my . mom," Rylan repeated slowly disavowing all knowledge of Tessa's earlier warnings. Although a split second later, when she realized what was coming, she wished she hadn't. Julie's hand flew up and she slapped Rylan across the face. Rylan's head snapped to the left and her right hand impulsively rose to her cheek. Slowly she turned her head to face her mother again anger filling her eyes. It was on now.  
  
"Rylan . Elizabeth . Fisher," Julie annunciated slowly her finger poised in the air. "Don't you ever say that again, do you understand me?"  
  
"I can't believe you remembered my middle name," Rylan shot back fighting the urge to slug her mother. "And you can't call me that."  
  
"Excuse me?" Julie repeated through clenched teeth.  
  
Rylan threw back her shoulders and glared as hard as she could. "You gave up the right to discipline me when you gave me up period."  
  
"You know better than to speak like that to an adult," the woman sneered.  
  
"If I do, you didn't teach me," the girl returned coldly. Julie slapped her again.  
  
"What did I tell you about your attitude?"  
  
"What did I tell you about disciplining me?"  
  
Julie's hand went up again. Rylan didn't move an inch. "You have been nothing but rude all night," Julie said raising her voice sparking Richie's interest from the kitchen. "All I came to do was talk to you. Explain what happened because you're old enough now and I can't stand that you're so mad at me."  
  
"Mad?" Rylan scoffed. Richie pulled a chair under the air vent to hear better. "I'm way past mad. I'm past furious, I'm passed pissed. I hate you. I have for years."  
  
"Don't you use that tone of voice with me," Julie warned her hand still ready to strike.  
  
"Just so you know, all I have to do is scream and Duncan's in here in half a second," Rylan said with a smug grin. "You'd be surprised what would happen then."  
  
"Richie! What are you doing?" Duncan demanded nearly startling Richie off his perch.  
  
"Mac, I think Julie's threatening Ry."  
  
"What?" Tessa said from the sink.  
  
"Ry said all she had to do was scream."  
  
Tessa threw down the dishcloth she was holding and stalked to the door.  
  
"Tess," Duncan stopped her. "Rylan can take care of herself."  
  
Julie put her hand down. "I did it for you," she told her. "I couldn't take care of you. I wanted to give you a better life. You have what I could never give you."  
  
"Uh-oh, here it comes," Richie mumbled.  
  
"What's happening?" Tessa asked pulling a chair next to Richie's.  
  
"A better life?" Rylan sputtered. "You wanted to give me a better life? I've haven't been living here since I was eight, you know. I went through a lot of homes before this one."  
  
"But you have this now."  
  
"You know what I went through before I got here?" Rylan asked slowly. "I was beaten. I was raped. That was my better life. But you wouldn't know that would you? You work at a hospital and didn't care enough to look through my file until you wanted something."  
  
"Rylan, I-I didn't know."  
  
"How could you? You don't even know my birthday."  
  
"February eighteenth."  
  
"Twenty fourth," Rylan corrected her voice shaking with anger. "You never cared."  
  
"Rylan ."  
  
"Did you even realize that you gave us all up the day after Dad died?" Julie's face paled. "I was with Skylar when he died. You wanna know what he said? At least I know Dad cares, if I can't live with Mom, I can live with him."  
  
Tessa looked at Richie, who nodded slightly. Duncan went to the den door.  
  
"But you wouldn't know that either, would you?" Rylan continued. "You weren't there. His little sister was, but his mother wasn't. I feel sorry for the kids you have now . I'll pray for them."  
  
"You leave them out of this, Rylan."  
  
"I hope you won't. 'Cause I know how that feels."  
  
"Duncan, stop her," Tessa insisted appearing behind Duncan and giving him a slight push. He opened the door and they all stepped in. Rylan's back was to them and Julie seemed to be ignoring them.  
  
"Rylan I'm sorry for everything that happened to you. I didn't know that would happen, I thought you would be better off. I'm sorry," Julie insisted.  
  
"Don't be," Rylan told her. "I put it behind me. It's in my past. You and everything bad that happened to me is in my past. Those people," Rylan turned to point at the door and saw 'those people' watching her intently. She didn't care, she kept going. "Those people, the people that take care of me, that love me, they are my family, not you. They are my present and future, not you. Tessa is my mom, not . you. I don't ever want to see you again."  
  
"Okay," Julie said curtly. "You've made you decision, if that's the way you want it, fine." She brushed past Rylan and everyone else and into the hall.  
  
"Julie, wait," Tessa called after her.  
  
As soon as Julie left Richie was at Rylan's side. "Are you okay?" She nodded and a few tears rolled down her face.  
  
Duncan moved to Richie's shoulder and caught site of Rylan's right cheek that was still pink and turning slightly purple. "Did she hit you?" he asked urgently. Rylan's face crumpled into a sob and she sank to her knees. Duncan followed her and pulled her to him.  
  
"I'll kill her," Richie growled stalking out after Julie.  
  
"She usually doesn't act like this," Tessa was apologizing on the front walk. "I don't know what got into her. I really am very sorry."  
  
"Yeah, well don't be," Richie spat coming up behind her.  
  
"Richie, not you, too!"  
  
"She hit Ry!" Richie insisted. "She's in there about to puke she crying so hard because this bit-" He was cut off as Tessa's hand flew up and caught Julie in the face.  
  
"If you ever, ever, come near my daughter again," Tessa warned fiercely. "I will show you what a real mother can do. Get off my property." She turned and stalked back into the house. Richie glared pointedly at Julie before trotting after her. 


	9. Chapter 9

Tessa found Rylan in the den kneeling on the floor sobbing into Duncan's chest.  
  
"Mon petit lapine presious," Tessa soothed kneeling on Rylan's other side. Rylan immediately switched to clinging to Tessa.  
  
"I hate her!" she sobbed.  
  
"La maman sait," Tessa answered stroking her hair. "It'll be okay, she's never coming back, je promets," she assured her.  
  
Duncan looked up at Richie who was grinning stupidly in the doorway looking down at Tessa. He caught the boy's eye and gave him a quizzical look. He still expected Richie to be fuming. 'Later,' Richie mouthed.  
  
"Mignon," Tessa said softly kissing the top of Rylan's head. "Why don't you go take a shower? It's been a long day, it will make you feel better."  
  
"I'll make some hot chocolate," Richie offered.  
  
Slowly Rylan sat up and looked at everybody. "Guess I kinda ruined the evening, huh?"  
  
"No, it wasn't your fault," Tessa assured her. "Don't worry about that. Now, you go take a nice, long, hot shower so you can relax; then we'll talk. How does that sound?"  
  
Rylan sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Okay."  
  
Tessa helped her get to her feet and led her out of the room. Richie ginned and winked at her as she passed.  
  
"Okay, what are you grinning about?" Duncan demanded as Richie put the water on to boil.  
  
"Mac," Richie grinned shaking his head. "You should have been there, it was awesome!"  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"Nothing," he insisted. "Tessa did."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I just told her and the next thing I know, BAM! Right in the face. Just outa nowhere. It was sweet!"  
  
"Tessa hit Julie?" Duncan asked skeptically.  
  
Richie nodded. "Yup, I didn't think she had it in her. I've been wanting to do that for almost as long as I can remember. Watching Tessa do it though, the look on Julie's face . it was so much better than if I had done it."  
  
"What did Julie do?"  
  
"Just stood there. She didn't have time to swing back; Tessa threatened her and left." Duncan had heard Richie talk about the WWF less enthusiastically.  
  
"She threatened her?" Duncan really wished he had been there.  
  
"That was the best part. She said, 'If you ever come MY daughter again'," Richie imitated. "'I'll show you what a real mother can do.' Julie looked like she had been slapped all over again!" The teapot began to whistle. He filled a mug with cocoa and poured the water in. "I wish they had really gotten into it, though. Tessa would have kicked her ass," he laughed shaking his head again.  
  
"I really wish she would have tried something, too," Tessa said entering the kitchen. "I would have killed her."  
  
"Tess," Duncan grinned. "I've never seen this side of you before . I like it." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.  
  
"You never stop," Richie sighed.  
  
"That woman," Tessa mumbled pulling away. "How could she do that? Just ignore a little girl for so long, then when she comes to work things out . hit her like that."  
  
"I guess we now know where Rylan gets her temper," Duncan shrugged. "Things are over now. If Julie tries anything we'll figure something out."  
  
"She won't try anything," Richie assured them. "I'm scared of Tessa and she's never hit me. Julie's not coming back."  
  
. . . . . .  
  
"Petit lapine?" Tessa called opening Rylan's door slightly.  
  
"I'm in here," Rylan softly answered from the bathroom. She was sitting in front of her vanity in her pajamas combing her hair.  
  
"Let me," Tessa said gently taking the comb from her hands. "I'm sorry, Rylan," she began. "I should have asked before inviting you mother. I feel horrible for forcing you to be nice to that horrid woman."  
  
"You didn't know," Rylan shrugged wincing as Tessa snagged on a knot.  
  
"But I didn't ask, either. I should have." They sat in silence for a while, Tessa combing Rylan's hair and Rylan watching her in the mirror. "Mignon, when she hit you why didn't you hit her back?" Tessa asked putting the comb down.  
  
"I didn't want to get in trouble," Rylan said with a slight smile.  
  
Tessa smiled back. "You ." She studied Rylan in the mirror. "You have Duncan's eyes," she commented.  
  
Rylan turned to look at her, then turned to look at herself in the mirror. "I do?"  
  
"Yes." Tessa leaned down next to her. "The shape, the color, I never noticed before. You have his eyes. And my lips," she added. Rylan's mouth quirked into a shy grin.  
  
"That's impossible," she told her. "We're not related."  
  
"Maybe we were meant to be," Tessa answered. "You see," she traced her own lips in the mirror before tracing Rylan's. "Same shape, same jaw, you have my father's nose. You actually look a lot like I did when I was younger, different coloring, but very much the same."  
  
"You're lying," Rylan said, still grinning.  
  
"I'll show you a picture sometime, just remind me."  
  
"That's okay, I don't want to prove you wrong," Rylan yawned.  
  
"You look tired," Tessa commented.  
  
"Fighting takes a lot out of me."  
  
"Then you should go to bed." Tessa stood her up and guided her to her bed. Rylan climbed in and Tessa sat next to her. "Rylan, do you know what petit lapine means?"  
  
Rylan furrowed her brow. "Little something."  
  
"Little rabbit," she told her. "Do you know why I call you that?"  
  
"No. Why do you call me that?"  
  
"Because that's what my mother called me, and my grandmother called her, and her mother her. It's tradition in my family . our family. It has been for generations. And one day it will be your tradition to pass to your daughter. And you better, because I don't want my daughter to be the one that breaks the tradition."  
  
Rylan grinned up at her. "I won't, I promise." She rolled onto her side and snuggled into her pillow. She fell asleep to the gentle, soft, reassuring touch of Tessa stroking her hair.  
  
AN: The end, tell me what you think! 


End file.
